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MADRID -- Spanish basketball fans better be satisfied with the appearance of national team stars Jorge Garbajosa and Jose Calderon tonight when the Raptors take on fabled local side, Real Madrid.

Because it's almost certain that two-time NBA all-star Chris Bosh will not be playing.

Bosh, 23, tweaked his left knee during a practice in Treviso, Italy last week. The pain and fluid build-up worsened to the point where he has not been able to practice this week, although he did say that it felt a little better yesterday than it did on Tuesday.

But likely not enough for him to suit up against Real Madrid at the Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid.

"The rest has done me well," Bosh said. "But I have to do some more strengthening and stretching, the same old story.

"We're just trying to rest it for the moment and then trying to think of an approach to handle it the right way," he said, adding that a firm diagnosis still hasn't been made or, at least, announced.

"For the moment it's just a tweak," said Bosh, with a laugh. "I don't think it's going to be a long-term problem."

POSITIVE OUTLOOK

Bosh said he refuses to think the worst, that the knee, which forced him to miss some games last season, will be a chronic problem, or will result in surgery, as was the case with Greg Oden, the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft.

For Oden, a seemingly innocent problem in his right knee resulted in microfracture surgery. As a result, he is expected to miss the entire 2007-08 NBA season.

"I don't get like that," said Bosh, when asked if he is worried about the injury. "The body's pretty funny. You get all nervous like that and I think it gets a little worse. I just try to stay calm and try to keep my composure, stay grounded, stay humble and keep doing the things that prevent stuff like that."

Bosh probably will have an MRI done when the team gets back to Toronto this weekend.

As for the rest of the team, head coach Sam Mitchell said practices this week have gone well.

"Right now, a lot of the practice is just reviewing and working," Mitchell said. "We've added about 85% of our offence. I may put in one more set, but we've got all our underneath and side out-of-bounds plays (practised). We've been working on defences. So, when we get back to Toronto, we'll be fine-tuning what we're doing."

The Raptors' first game back in Toronto will be Wednesday against Lithuanian side Zalgiris Kaunas.